Leverage: The Great Escape
by Gilbert H. Karr
Summary: The Leverage Team plans an escape room adventure to celebrate Parker's Birthday, but things become all too real when guests start turning up dead. A mysterious woman who casts her spell over everyone she meets, a rogue AI, and a race against time. What more could the Leverage team ask for? Will they escape in time? Normal Disclaimers Apply. Please R and R. I don't own or profit.
1. Chapter 1

**Leverage: The Great Escape**

 **GH Karr**

 **Chapter 1**

"Hardison, are you gonna help or not? This was your idea."

Hardison placed his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone, and hissed, "I'm coming." He went back to the phone call while Eliot growled. "Yes, that's five people. An hour from now. Yes. No, I'll pay when we get there. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you." Eliot growled again and he hung up the phone.

Eliot saw him walk over and handed him a large box and a bunch of stuff stacked on top of it. Hardison staggered a little under its weight. "Do something with your crap so we all have a place to ride in the van. It's more comfortable than putting all of us in my charger."

Hardison stumbled into his office and set the things in his arms on his sofa. He would do something with them later, but they would be safe here, in his space. He moved back out before Eliot had a chance to come looking for him. A trash bag came sailing out of the van and landed on the pavement in front of him, almost hitting him.

"Hey, watch it!" Hardison yelled.

Eliot poked his head out and said, "It's your junk. You can put it in the dumpster. And see if the rest of the team is ready to go." He ducked back into the van, chuckling to himself.

Hardison made his way to the dumpster with the heavy bag, then, looking around to be sure nobody was watching him, he dialed a number on his phone. It rang twice and Sophie answered.

"Are you all ready to go?" he asked. Then, "What about Parker?" He listened for a moment, and then said, "Five minutes, it is. Eliot and I will pick you up at the front of the building."

(0o0)

Nate and Sophie were ready to walk out the front door, to meet Hardison and Eliot, but they couldn't find Parker. Nate shook his head. That girl—she could blend in anywhere, and disappear in less than a nanosecond apparently. Sophie carefully scanned the rafters. No sign of her. What could she be thinking? She knew they had somewhere to be, but they hadn't told her where they were going because Hardison wanted it to be a surprise.

Nate and Sophie did a quick sweep of the building, knowing that the boys were waiting for them outside. Eyeing the air vents, Nate raised his voice slightly, and said, "I hate for Parker to miss out on all of the fun, but I guess if we can't find her, we'll have to leave her behind."

Usually, if Parker knew they were going somewhere fun, she would literally fall out of the sky to go, so they waited. No Parker.

A loud growl sounded behind them. "Nate, Sophie, let's go. We're gonna be late."

"We're ready, but we seem to have lost the guest of honor."

Eliot growled again. "Damn it, Nate. Go get in the van with Hardison. I'll find her."

They chose to do as Eliot asked them, and darted for the van, in deference to Eliot's mindset at the moment.

(0o0)

Eliot didn't doubt that Nate and Sophie had looked for Parker. That wasn't it, exactly. It was just that Nate sometimes underestimated the spaces she could crawl into to hide, and none of the team except Eliot really ever considered the fact that she wouldn't hide anywhere she didn't feel safe. And just like that, with that thought, Eliot knew where she was.

Moving quietly through the halls of Leverage, Incoporated's headquarters, known these days as a Brew Pub in Portland, Eliot sought out the one place he knew it was most likely that Parker might hide. Flinging the door open, he thought he was wrong. For a moment.

Then he saw her. Curled up in a tight little ball, as close to the wall as she could get, behind the spare clothes in his closet. Talking softly, and making sure he made enough noise to telegraph his presence to her, he walked into the closet and said, "Parker, we're gonna be late, Sweetheart".

"Late, where?"

She looked up at him, brushing the hair out of her face, and in that moment, he saw exactly how small and miserable she looked. He moved further in and sat down beside her.

"Hey, don't look at me. Hardison wants it to be a surprise."

"Great. Except for the fact that I don't actually _like_ surprises."

"You liked the surprise date Hardison planned for you, didn't you?" Eliot cocked his head sideways and looked at her, as though really seeing her for the first time.

"That was—wait! How'd you know about that?"

"Hardison asked me if I thought you'd like it. And we both thought you did."

She nodded. "But that was here". _Where it's safe!_ she wanted to add, but didn't. Instead she said, "Surprises out there don't usually end well for me."

Eliot could understand that. She came from a bad home life, multiple foster homes, and had been a car thief before becoming a cat burglar. It was very likely that she hadn't encountered many happy surprises in her lifetime. Maybe only Archie and the things he had taught her.

"Well, Darlin', I'm gonna be there with you. I won't let anything bad happen."

"I know. But where are we going?"

"To a place Hardison thinks you'll like, to celebrate you. Go with us? Please?"

She sighed. "I'll do it for you. And for Hardison."

"That's my girl." He rose, sticking out his hand and pulling her to her feet. She slipped a small hand into his larger one, and they walked together out to the van and climbed in.


	2. Chapter 2

During the trip, Eliot took it in turns to alternate between whispering encouragement to Parker and keeping up the conversation with the rest of the team. By the time the white van pulled into the side parking lot of the building, Parker was her normal, bouncy self, and was almost excited about being there, wherever they were.

Hardison hurried inside to pay before Parker changed her mind. There would be a short wait before it was their turn. The group gathered in the corner of the lobby, waiting. Nate nodded at Hardison and he addressed the group, but mostly Parker. Growing suspicious, she asked, "Is this a date?"

"No. Parker, I wouldn't have brought the rest of the team if this was a date. This is—that is—I wanted—" Hardison broke off, unable to finish.

"It's a birthday celebration, Parker," Eliot said.

"Oh. Okay. Whose birthday are we celebrating?" Parker asked.

"Yours. Your birthday," Hardison said, finally finding his voice.

Parker looked confused. "It isn't my birthday."

"When is your birthday, Parker?" Nate asked.

"I-I don't know. Nobody's ever done anything for my birthday."

"You told me once that you didn't know when you were born, so I chose a day for you. Today."

Nate spoke up. "Hardison wanted to celebrate you. We all did."

"We all do," Sophie added.

Parker blushed and shrugged. "I wish I had known earlier that today was my birthday, so I could have celebrated all day. What is this place?" she asked.

Hardison went off on a tangent that lasted the rest of the time they were waiting, describing all of the things Parker would get to do there. Nate had to admit, it sounded like it was right up Parker's alley. It wasn't the rest of the team's cup of tea, but it would be good practice for them, that much was sure.

Finally, it was their turn to go in, and Parker hung back again for a little while. Eliot moved up beside her and nudged her gently with his elbow, and she followed him inside. Once she saw what they were doing, any temerity she had shown before was gone, and she approached each of the puzzles with the enthusiasm of a person who won the lottery.

In fact, to Nate's surprise, they found themselves finished with a series of puzzles, which was supposed to take them an hour to finish, in half that time. Parker was just that good.

Walking out through the tunnel that would take them back around to the lobby, Parker was bouncing slightly, like she had when she went to the chocolate festival by herself. Nate refused to admit that he found this somewhat out of control version of Parker slightly disturbing, so he simply walked a bit ahead of the rest of the group and said nothing. As he rounded a corner ahead of the group, he heard the muted laughter and the sounds of happy people behind him, and he began to contemplate how much the team meant to him.

His thoughts were cut short when a door, which he hadn't even noticed before, opened in front of him and a middle aged man staggered out into the hallway, with a wide-eyed teenaged girl beside him, looking slightly worried. As soon as they made it to the hallway, he dropped to his knees, and Nate could see that he was struggling to breathe. He helped the man lie down on the floor, and loosened his clothing as much as he could.

"Dad?" The girl asked, in a panic.

"Take it easy," Nate said, quietly. Then, raising his voice only slightly, he said, "Eliot."

There was something in his mastermind's voice that set the younger man on high alert. He made eye contact with Hardison and said, "Why don't you take the girls on out and bring Lucille around? I want to check something out with Nate—another birthday surprise for Parker," he lied, seeing the way Sophie was looking at him. Hardison nodded and Eliot ushered them out a side door he had seen earlier, one which he knew led to the parking lot where they'd left Lucille.

Jogging around the corner as soon as the door closed behind him, he said, "What's going on, Nate?" He stopped in his tracks as he saw the mastermind bent over a man lying on the floor. He was by the older man's side with lightning speed, his eyes automatically assessing the man on the ground for any type of injury. Nate automatically stepped back to give his hitter more space.

Standing, Nate addressed the young lady now standing in a corner, waiting for news about her father. "What's your dad's name?"

"Richard. Richard Martin."

Immediately, Eliot began slapping the man's cheek gently and calling him by name, trying to bring him around.

"Is your father allergic to anything?" Nate asked, knowing Eliot would need to know.

"Only tree nuts and certain antibiotics. Why?"

Nate started to answer her, only to be cut off by Eliot. "Nate," he growled, "I need the first aid kit from Lucille. Go back down the hall to the first side door we came to. Hardison should have Lucille there waiting for us. Bring me the first aid kit under the front passenger seat. Call 911 and have them send an ambulance."

"Got it," Nate said, as he ran toward the door. When they were alone, Eliot looked at the girl in the corner, amazed at how small she looked.

"Don't worry. Your daddy's gonna be okay." He paused for a moment, struggling with himself about something, and then made a decision and asked, "Does your dad carry an epi-pen?"

"Front right trouser pocket."

Eliot reached in, retrieved it, and wasted no time pulling up on the top. When the needle popped out, he plunged it into the man's thigh. The man slowly stopped struggling to breathe and was starting to breathe normally. He stirred and tried to sit up, but Eliot stopped him.

"Ambulance is on its way. You really should let the paramedics check you out before you move around too much."

"I'm all right. I need to see about Daisy. Where's Daisy? Where's my daughter?"

Daisy ran to her father and fell to her knees at his side. She wanted to hug him but didn't want to inhibit his breathing. Eliot sat watching her, amused. Finally, he said, "Well, go on. Hug him if you want to. He won't break."

When she heard those words, Daisy hugged him gently, and then withdrew, as she realized that strangers were watching them. Eliot said to her, "Why don't you go out to the front desk and collect any prize you might have won for escaping. You'll also need to let them know what has happened, and that an ambulance is on its way. Go on," he said, when she looked hesitant. "We'll be right here when you get back."

After she left, Eliot looked at her father. "I'll stay with you until the paramedics arrive. Daisy can ride to the hospital with you, or if you really want to go, they will probably check you out and let you go home.

"Thank you for everything." He raised a weak hand and they shook.

A few minutes later, the ambulance screamed to a stop, sirens blaring. Eliot guided the paramedics into a side door, and a moment later, one Richard Martin was safely ensconced in an ambulance with his daughter, headed toward the hospital.


End file.
